COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The third-seeded Maryland Terrapins advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a thrilling 5-4 win in penalty kicks over 14th-seeded Creighton Sunday afternoon at Ludwig Field. The Terps will face St. John's on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 1 p.m. at Ludwig Field. The winner of that game will advance to the College Cup in Carson, Calif.

"It's a terrible way to lose a game," head coach Sasho Cirovski said of the shootout. "Creighton deserves a lot of credit for the way they played.

"It feels great to move on to the next round. We look forward to taking on St. John's; every time we play them it's a great game."

The two teams ended regulation tied at 0-0 despite plenty of action from both teams. Maryland (16-5-2) controlled the first half, out-shooting the Blue Jays 9-3. However, Creighton (14-4-2) keeper Matt Allen was up to the task stopping three shots, including a point-blank save on a Maurice Edu shot in the ninth minute of action. Jason Garey also had a good chance to get Maryland on the board in 40th minute, but his 13-yard shot hit the crossbar.

In the second half, the Creighton offense began to get on track. The Blue Jays were most dangerous on set plays deep in the Maryland third and on corner kicks but were not able to tally a score.

After two 10 minute overtimes that saw just three shots (all by Maryland), the teams went to penalty kicks. Abe Thompson converted first for Maryland, banging his shot in the upper-left corner of the net. Creighton's Jarod Tarver missed high, but Allen was able to stop Chris Lancos' attempt and Kama Bennah then converted his try to tie the score at 1-1 after two rounds.

Still tied at 1-1 after three rounds, the teams traded conversions in the next three rounds as Domenic Mediate, Stephen King and Jason Arnold were successful for the Terps and Julian Nash, Brian Biggerstaff and Matt Wieland scored for the Blue Jays.

In the seventh round, Edu's shot found the upper right-hand corner of the net for the score. Vince Odorioso failed to make his attempt, giving Maryland the 5-4 edge.

"I felt confident out there the whole time," Palmer said of the shootout. Thompson, too, had confidence in the goalkeeper.

"We were completely confident in Noah," Thompson said. "We were talking about where we were going to run to and celebrate."

Maryland and St. John's will meet in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Red Storm eliminated the Terps in the national semifinals, 1-0.